An Enigmatic Longing: Reflections on Christian spirituality

The word ‘enigmatic’ means both ‘puzzling’ and ‘mysterious’. I contend that longing for God is a hunger known by human beings, one we are free to explore or to ignore. Augustine (1991: 39), who knew the cost of ignoring his longing, wrote: “My God, how I burned, how I burned with longing to leave earthly things and fly back to you”. Is the psalmist filled with this same enigmatic longing when he cries out: “O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you” (Ps. 63: 1)? How our longing is manifested is often beyond rational